I Hate My Pillow
by AlwaysYourAibou
Summary: Atemu hates his pillow. Dedicated to Larka and supporters.


Dedication: This story is dedicated to Larka and all those that helped her find the fiend that deleted her stories. This is my thanks to them. Especially Tavia454 who contacted the creep herself. Enjoy the short one-shot.

WARNING: yaoi, lame humor, and fluff

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

I Hate My Pillow

Atemu lay on his back and stared at the shadowy ceiling in aggravation. This was the third night in a row he couldn't get any sleep. His tired eyes scanned the ceiling for something to concentrate on; something to make him forget his enemy.

He found a purple splotch near the center of the ceiling and smiled to himself. He shook his head as he remembered Yugi throwing the purple pen at him when he caught the ex-pharaoh eating his ice cream. Atemu had used his shadow powers to deflect it, a little too harshly. The pen went flying up and hit the ceiling with such an impact that the ink literally exploded out of it. Atemu would never forget the way Yugi laughed as some of the ink fell into his stolen ice cream.

The former royal flipped onto his stomach and glanced at the clock. 3:56. He had to be in about two hours to help Yugi's grandfather with the shop. It wasn't fair. How come Yugi got to go with Jou to New York City for a weekend while he stayed at home doing **his** chores? Atemu really couldn't blame Yugi. The boy had been so stressed out from school lately, Atemu and his grandfather believed Yugi deserved a little break. But that didn't mean that Atemu didn't miss his partner greatly.

Atemu grabbed his long body pillow and squeezed it tightly, placing his face on the upper end. Slowly, the former king inhaled the scent from the pillow and sighed. It smelled like cinnamon, his own shampoo. Slightly disappointed, Atemu placed his head on the pillow and growled when it sunk in too far. The pillow was too fluffy. The darkness wished it was more firm but bit his lip and looked at the clock again.

Growling at his own exhaustion, the king flipped his legs out of bed, taking the sheet clean off the mattress. Atemu rolled his eyes and left it sitting there as he strolled over to the window. He looked down in the street below, hoping to see someone he could watch. People watching was something he use to do for hours when Yugi slept. It never bored him for there was always an interesting person out late at night. Pimps, hitch hikers, thieves, and the occasional whore, made way for an interesting night.

For some reason, the gods seemed to despise the former king for there was not a single soul in the street below the shop. The ex-pharaoh pounded his head against the window's glass in a bored fashion. He exhaled his breath and fogged up the window. Giving a sideways smile, he drew a heart in the condensation and then quickly wiped it away, knowing that if Solomon saw it, he would make him clean every window in the house.

Atemu thumped his fingers on the windowsill for a few seconds before spinning on his heel and returning to the bed. He grabbed the fallen sheet and limply threw it on the bed. He flopped back down on the full bed, bouncing a few times from the force of his flop. He blew air out of his mouth harshly which blew his golden bangs up. He turned over and again, grabbed that full body pillow and snuggled it closer to his body. He placed his head on it and listened. Not a sound came from the Re's forsaken pillow. Angered, Atemu sat up and stared at his enemy. "Why do you hate me?" He asked in aggravation.

The former spirit gently allowed his fingers to travel up and down the pillow's edges and body. It wasn't baby soft at all. His pillow was a lie. Atemu fisted the pillow and threw it with all of his might off the bed. It fell with a silent thump to the floor. Atemu watched it for a moment and then looked at his door. "Well I hate you more."

He was so tired. What killed him the most was not the fact that he was tired but the fact that no matter what he did, beautiful dreams did not enter his mind. His eyes refused to stay closed and his heart beat refused to slow. It was as if someone placed a curse on him. Atemu knew the reason for this and tried to get his mind off of it. However, after a few failed attempts, Atemu stood and made his way to his door, opening it softly.

The former royal walked carefully by Yugi's grandfather's door and opened Yugi's door. Atemu sighed at what he saw. An empty bed was planted in the middle of the room with a just as empty desk and might stand surrounding the bed. Atemu shut the door behind him and walked to the bed. He sat down on his and stared at the pillows on his aibou's bed. They mocked him as well.

Atemu closed his dreary eyes and flopped back on Yugi's bed, wishing his hikari would return soon. He missed him so much. Perhaps that was why his heart refused to settle down during the hours of darkness. The ex-pharaoh rolled completely on Yugi's bed and looked out the ceiling window at the leaving stars.

Only two more days of this madness. Then, his aibou would return and everything would be okay again. Atemu placed a hand over his heart and sighed, wondering what it was about his aibou's absence that tortured him so. _Yugi….._

THREE HOURS LATER

"Atemu, my boy!" Yugi's grandfather exclaimed, "You look terrible!"

Atemu examined himself in the hall mirror as he passed and almost stopped himself but was afraid to stand and look at his reflection any longer. He didn't have to stare at the mirror. He **knew** he had black half circles under his eyes. He **knew** he looked paler than he had when he was a ghost. He also knew his normal crimson eyes were more blood shot than they should have been.

Yugi's grandfather strolled over to the former king as Atemu sat at the kitchen table and placed his chin in his hand. The elder placed his hand on Atemu's forehead and frowned further when he felt no fever. "What is it? Still can't sleep?"

Atemu shook his head feebly. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the sun shining through the window of their house. It was only a house right now. It would be a home again when the rest of his family was back. Thoughts of Yugi started to plague his mind and Atemu once more sighed.

"You'll sleep today." Solomon smiled and turned to grab a cup of coffee.

"You said that yesterday." Atemu grumbled.

"I promise you. You'll sleep today!" He retorted with a wink.

Atemu blinked at the remark as the elder man brought a cup of coffee and placed it in front of him. Atemu looked at the cup in suspicion and wondered if Yugi's absence also caused the elderly man to go crazy. Atemu wanted sleep but not a coma induced sleep. He pushed the coffee cup away and stood, walking towards the shop that would open only in a matter of minutes. No use complaining about Yugi's absence or his lack of sleep so long as customers were waiting.

The former pharaoh placed some magazines under the counter a few hours later and looked over at the clock. 11:26. It was almost time for his break. He furrowed his brow as the clock's numbers became fuzzy. Atemu blinked hard and the numbers came back into focus. The former king looked down at his hands and saw they were shaking. This wasn't a good sign.

Trying to ignore his body's complaints, Atemu walked back over to the counter and stood, hoping to all that was pure no one would enter the shop and delay his break. Atemu placed his shaky hands on the counter top and swallowed hard. Nights in Egypt were usually calm and, though the former king did have some restless nights, nothing was ever as bad as this.

Another glance at the clock. 11:29. Atemu felt relief wash over him. Surely Solomon wouldn't mind him taking his break one minute early if there were no customers wai---, Atemu's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the shop's front bell ringing, informing him a new customer had entered the shop. Damn it all.

Atemu stared down at the counter and refused to look up, knowing his glare would probably kill the child or parent that just entered. _Please be quick._ Atemu pleaded in his head. _I just want to shut my eyes for a few minutes._ The former king closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing air to flair through his nostrils.

"You look terrible." A concern voice came from in front of him.

Atemu's eyes flew open. He knew that voice. He loved that voice. He snapped his head upright and his exhausted crimson eyes met with concerned amethyst ones. "Aibou!" Atemu exclaimed, hopping the counter and hugging his partner tightly. "You're home!" He had never felt so happy or relieved in his entire life.

"H-Hi Yami." Yugi smiled and stammered in the tight hold. He hugged his darkness back and looked him up and down carefully. "Wow, grandpa really wore you thin, didn't he?"

"No." Atemu said. "I just hate my pillow."

Yugi looked confused. "Huh?"

Atemu shook his head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Come on! Tell me about your trip." He encouraged.

Yugi's smiled could have brightened the largest room in the universe. "One thing, first." He said before lifting himself on his tip toes and kissing his Yami. Atemu melted against the teen and placed his arms about him in a tight hold. After the kiss was over, Atemu looked at him with glazed over eyes. Yugi chuckled. "I missed you."

"I missed you more." Atemu reassured him. "You have no idea." He bent over and grabbed Yugi's suitcase. "Come on inside. I want to hear about everything you did."

They settled on the couch as Yugi began to inform him of everything that went on. "So Jou had the bright idea that we should walk to the closest pizza place we could find. Of course we happened to be in Chinatown so there was nothing in sight. We ended up taking a wrong street and there was this homeless guy that kept following us around." Yugi explained one of his stories.

Atemu smiled at the teen as he informed him of his long weekend. However, it wasn't Yugi's story that made the former royal smile, it was his presence. It felt so good to have Yugi there with him again. The royal shifted on the couch and placed his arm around the teen's waist and his head on Yugi's chest. Soft but firm at the same time.

Yugi placed his arms around Atemu and continued his rant. "So finally, Jou turns around and says 'hey bud! What's the problem?' and the guy shoves him against a wall!" Yugi exclaimed. "Of course, now I'm all panicked because I think the guy is going to hurt him. No! He tried to kiss Jou! You should have seen the look on Jou's face!"

Atemu chuckled and slowly ran his fingertips under Yugi's shirt and on his abdomen. It was so soft; baby soft in fact. Atemu smiled ever more. He removed his hand and wrapped his arm tigher around the other.

"So Jou got all mad and threw the guy off him. As soon as he got out of the alley, he called Seto who threaten to go there and kick the guy's butt." Yugi laughed. "It took Jou about an hour to calm him down. I could hear him screaming from the phone. It was so funny!"

Atemu listened to Yugi's voice rumble in his chest. The ex-pharaoh listened more carefully to the sound of the thump-thump he heard coming from Yugi's strong heart. Beautiful.

"When we finally got back to the hotel, Jou was mad because we still didn't get our pizza." Yugi explained, running his hands up and down Atemu's back in a soothing motion.

Atemu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Yugi smelled of strawberries as well as vanilla. He slowly exhaled, trying to find the energy to tell Yugi that if he continued to massage his back, he wouldn't open his eyes again. However, the words wouldn't make it to the former royal's lips.

"Turns out, there was a pizza place right next door the entire time. Needless to say, Saturday was definitely an adventure." Yugi said. "Then that night I got the strangest feeling that something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. Same thing the next night. Finally, last night I called grandpa and told him I was coming home early."

Deep breathing came from the man laying on Yugi's chest.

"So was everything okay with you this weekend, Yami?" Yugi asked. There was no answer. Yugi stopped moving his hands on the former king's back. "Yami?" Yugi asked softly.

"Don't bother, my boy." Solomon, who had been watching the entire time. "He is out cold."

Yugi blinked in alarm. "Is he sick?" Yugi asked. "He didn't look so good when I got home."

"No. He is fine." Solomon responded. "He didn't sleep a wink the entire time you were gone."

Yugi looked down in concern at the man sleeping peacefully in his arms. "Let him sleep then. I can take care of the shop." Yugi said and was about to move when his grandfather stopped him.

"I'll handle it." He said with a smile. "Be sure he doesn't wake up." The elderly man walked out to the shop and sat on the stool, waiting for another customer while Yugi placed his head on top of his yami's head and smiled. He tightened his hold on his best friend and lover and closed his eyes. Soft snores came from the former spirit which brought some understood joy to the hikari holding him.

Everything was as it should be. Everything was back to normal. Pillows are wonderful inventions when they are used by those whose heart's don't long for a certain hikari. Atemu didn't hate his pillow because it existed.

Atemu hated his pillow because it wasn't Yugi.

FIN

A/N~ Review?


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